Spain beats Morocco to advance to Olympic men’s football final

Substitute Juanlu Sanchez scored a late winner as Spain beat Morocco 2-1 on Monday to advance to the Olympic men’s football final. Morocco took the lead after Sofian Rahimi’s penalty kick before halftime in the semifinal at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. However, Barcelona’s Fermin Lopez equalized midway through the second half and then assisted Sevilla right-back Sanchez for the winner.

This is the second consecutive time that Spain has reached the men’s Olympic final. Three years ago in Tokyo, they lost to Brazil in overtime and eventually took the silver medal.

Spain, chasing a second gold medal after winning in Barcelona in 1992, will travel to Paris on Friday for the final against either hosts France or Egypt, who will play in the semi-finals later in the season.

Morocco can still claim its first medal by winning Thursday’s bronze medal match in Nantes.

Last year’s Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations champions were in a good place in the semi-finals as they looked set to beat Spain but they took the lead in the 37th minute through a brilliant Rahimi strike. After a VAR check, Morocco were awarded a penalty when Pablo Barrios fouled Amir Richardson in the box and Rahimi stepped up to send the goalkeeper the wrong way.

It was the sixth goal for the Olympic Games’ top scorer, four of which came from the penalty spot.

This drove the large number of Moroccan fans wild, but Spain kept their composure and equalised in the 66th minute with the help of their star player.

Lopez, who was part of Spain’s Euro 2024 champions, scored twice in the Olympic quarter-final against Japan. When the ball got loose in the penalty area, Lopez seized the opportunity and shot low into the net to tie the score at 1-1.

With extra time approaching, Spain prevailed in the 85th minute when Lopez found Sanchez breaking into the box and fired a low shot into the far corner.